Dexter's Laboratory
Dexter's Laboratory (commonly abbreviated as Dexter's Lab) is an American comic science fiction animated children's television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network. The series follows Dexter, a boy-genius with a secret laboratory filled with his collection of inventions. He constantly battles his sister Dee Dee, who always gains access despite his best efforts to keep her out, as well as his arch-rival and neighbor, Mandark. The series' first two seasons contain additional segments: Dial M for Monkey, which focuses on Dexter's pet lab monkey-turned-superhero, and The Justice Friends, about a trio of superheroes who share an apartment. Tartakovsky first pitched the series to Hanna-Barbera's animated shorts showcase World Premiere Toons, basing it on student films he produced while attending the California Institute of the Arts. Four shorts were created and broadcast on Cartoon Network in 1995 and 1996 before viewer approval ratings convinced the network to order a 13-episode first season, which premiered on April 27, 1996. By 1999, 52 episodes and a television movie had been produced, and Tartakovsky then left the series to begin work on his other projects, Samurai Jack and Star Wars: Clone Wars. In 2001, the network revived the series under a different production team at Cartoon Network Studios, and after 26 more episodes, the series ended on November 20, 2003. Dexter's Laboratory received high ratings and became one of Cartoon Network's most popular and successful original series. During its run, the series was nominated for 4 Primetime Emmy Awards, 4 Golden Reel Awards, and 9 Annie Awards, winning 3 additional Annie Awards. The series is notable for helping launch the careers of several cartoonists, such as Craig McCracken (The Powerpuff Girls, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and Wander Over Yonder), Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show), Butch Hartman (The Fairly OddParents, Danny Phantom and T.U.F.F. Puppy), and Rob Renzetti (My Life as a Teenage Robot). Spin-off media include a series of comic books, DVD and VHS releases, music albums, and video games. Series overview The series revolves around Dexter (voiced by Christine Cavanaugh (Seasons 1 & 2) and later Candi Milo (Seasons 3 & 4)), a boy-genius with a secret laboratory filled with highly advanced equipment hidden behind a bookcase in his bedroom. Access to the laboratory is achieved by speaking various passwords or by activating hidden switches on his bookshelf (e.g. pulling out a specific book). Though highly intelligent, Dexter often fails at what he has set out to do when he becomes overexcited and makes careless choices. He manages to keep the lab a secret from his clueless, cheerful parents (voiced by Jeff Bennett and Kath Soucie), who never notice any evidence of the laboratory. Although he comes from a typical all-American family, Dexter speaks with a thick, Russian accent. Cavanaugh described it as "an affectation, some kind of accent, we're not quite sure. A small Peter Lorre, but not. Perhaps he's Latino, perhaps he's French. He's a scientist; he knows he needs some kind of accent." Genndy Tartakovsky explained, "He considers himself a very serious scientist, and all well-known scientists have accents." Dexter is frequently in conflict with his hyperactive older sister, Dee Dee (voiced by Allison Moore (Seasons 1 & 3) and later Kathryn Cressida (Seasons 2 & 4)), as well as a rival boy-genius from his school named Susan "Mandark" Astronomonov (voiced by Eddie Deezen). In spite of Dexter's advanced technology, Dee Dee eludes all manner of security and, once inside, delights in playing in his laboratory, often wreaking havoc with his inventions. Though usually destructive, Dee Dee occasionally outsmarts her brother and even gives him helpful advice. For his part, Dexter, though annoyed by his intrusive sibling, feels a reluctant affection for her and will come to her defense if she is imperiled. Mandark, Dexter's nemesis, also has his own laboratory, but his schemes are generally evil and designed to gain power while downplaying or destroying Dexter's accomplishments. As the series progresses, Mandark becomes significantly more evil, with his laboratory darker-looking, industrial, and angular in contrast to his original brightly lit lab with rounded features. Because Dexter's inventions are often better than his, Mandark tries to make up for this by stealing Dexter's plans. Mandark's weakness is his love for Dee Dee, though she ignores him and never returns his affections. Recurring segments Episodes from the first two seasons of Dexter's Laboratory were usually divided into three segments, with each segment being a separate Dexter's Laboratory cartoon. Occasionally, the middle segment centered around characters from the Dexter's Laboratory universe other than Dexter and his family. Two of these segments were shown, primarily during the first season: Dial M for Monkey and The Justice Friends. Dial M for Monkey appeared in the first half of the first season, while The Justice Friends appeared in the second half of the first season. The Dial M for Monkey characters sometimes appear in the Justice Friends segments and vice versa, though Dexter and Dee Dee only appear in the Dial M for Monkey segments. The Dial M for Monkey shorts feature Dexter's pet laboratory monkey, Monkey (vocal effects by Frank Welker), whom Dexter believes is an ordinary monkey and nothing more. In contrast, Monkey secretly has superpowers and fights evil as the superhero Monkey. Monkey is joined by his partner Agent Honeydew (voiced by Kath Soucie), the Commander General (voiced by originally by Robert Ridgely and later Earl Boen), and a team of assembled superheroes. Monkey's true identity is revealed to Dexter in the episode "Last But Not Beast", although Dexter's memories are erased shortly afterward. Dial M for Monkey was created by Genndy Tartakovsky, Craig McCracken, and Paul Rudish. The Justice Friends consists of Major Glory (voiced by Rob Paulsen and a parody of both Captain America and Superman), Valhallen (voiced by Tom Kenny and a parody of both Thor and Eddie Van Halen), and the Infraggable Krunk (voiced by Frank Welker and a parody of the Incredible Hulk), a team of superheroes who are all roommates living in an apartment complex called Muscular Arms. Most of the adventures of the trio deal less with their lives as superheroes and more with their inability to get along as roommates; it is presented as a sitcom, including a laugh track. Genndy Tartakovsky's inspiration for The Justice Friends came from reading Marvel Comics when he was learning how to speak English. Tartakovsky stated in an interview with IGN that he was somewhat disappointed with how The Justice Friends turned out, saying, "it could have been funnier and the characters could have been fleshed out more." Mini-segments were played during the first two seasons between the main three segments, which involve Dexter and Dee Dee in various scenarios. There were also several live-action segments featuring "The Puppet Pals", a fictional TV show sometimes seen in the main segments. "The Puppet Pals" are two puppets named Puppet Pal Mitch (voiced by Rob Paulsen) and Puppet Pal Clem (voiced by Tom Kenny), presumably parodies of Ernie and Bert from Sesame Street. These segments involve Puppet Pal Clem telling Puppet Pal Mitch a joke, with the punchline being a pun on the word "bonk". Puppet Pal Mitch would then bonk Puppet Pal Clem on the head with a foam-padded stick. History Influences and design Dexter's Laboratory was inspired by one of Genndy Tartakovsky's drawings of a ballerina. After drawing Dee Dee's tall, thin shape, he decided to pair her with a short and blocky opposite, Dexter, inspired by Tartakovsky's older brother Alex. The series was animated in a stylized way, which Tartakovsky says was influenced by the Merrie Melodies cartoon The Dover Boys at Pimento University.Simmensky 2011, p. 287. Dexter's Laboratory, however, was staged in a cinematic way, rather than flat and close to the screen, to leave space and depth for the action and gags. Tartakovsky was also influenced by other Warner Bros. cartoons, Hanna-Barbera, Japanese anime, and the UPA shorts. Tartakovsky has said the character Dexter was designed "as an icon"—his body is short and squat and his design is simple, with a black outline and relatively little detail. Since he knew that he was designing the show for television, he purposely limited the design to a certain degree, designing the nose and mouth, for instance, in a Hanna-Barbera style to animate easily.Simmensky 2011, pp. 286–287. Production Dexter's Laboratory, along with Cow and Chicken, Johnny Bravo, The Powerpuff Girls, and Courage the Cowardly Dog, became responsible for pushing Cartoon Network in a new direction focusing on original programming and "character-driven" cartoons.Simmensky 2011, p. 283. After enrolling at the California Institute of the Arts in 1990 to study animation, Tartakovsky wrote, directed, animated, and produced two cartoon shorts that would become the basis for the series. Dexter's Laboratory was then made into a short film as a part of Cartoon Network's What a Cartoon! project, promoted as World Premiere Toons, which debuted on February 26, 1995. Viewers worldwide voted through phone lines, the Internet, focus groups, and consumer promotions for their favorite short cartoons; the first of 16 animated shorts to earn that vote of approval was Dexter's Laboratory. In August 1995, Turner ordered six half-hours of the series, which would include two Dexter cartoons around one spin-off segment titled Dial M for Monkey. The show premiered as a half-hour series on TNT on April 27, 1996, and on April 28 on Cartoon Network and TBS Superstation. Mike Lazzo, then-head of programming for the network, said that the short was his favorite of the 48 shorts, commenting "We all loved the humor in brother-versus-sister relationship". After the initial season of episodes, the voice of Dee Dee, Allison Moore, who was a college friend of Genndy Tartakovsky, left the show because she was no longer interested in voice acting. The role was subsequently recast with Kathryn Cressida.http://techjives.net/onvoxshow/?p=190 Dexter's Laboratory ended its initial run in 1998 after two seasons, with the second season lasting 39 episodes, a notable record for a single TV production season on Cartoon Network. The initial series finale was "Last But Not Beast", which differed from the format of the other episodes in that it was not a collection of cartoon shorts, but was a single 25-minute episode. In 1999, Tartakovsky returned to direct Dexter's Laboratory: Ego Trip, an hour-long television movie. This was the last Dexter's Laboratory production that Tartakovsky was involved with and was originally intended to be the final conclusion to the series. The special was hand-animated, though the character and setting designs were subtly altered. The plot follows Dexter on a quest through time as he finds out his future triumphs. Christine Cavanaugh won an Annie Award for her voice performance as Dexter in Ego Trip for "Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting By a Female Performer in an Animated Television Production". The series re-entered production in 2001. The new episodes, which ran for two more seasons, had a different production team than the originals due to Genndy Tartakovsky working on Samurai Jack and Star Wars: Clone Wars. MacFarlane and Hartman had left Time Warner altogether at this point, focusing on Family Guy and The Fairly OddParents, respectively. Beginning with season three, Chris Savino took over as the creative director for the show in the absence of Tartakovsky. Later in season four, Savino was also promoted to producer giving him further control over the show, such as the budget. This second line of episodes featured noticeably different visual designs, minor inconsistencies with the original episodes both in storyline and in visuals, and different sound effects. Christine Cavanaugh retired from voice acting in 2001 for personal reasons and was replaced by Candi Milo as the voice of Dexter for the majority of these new episodes, though Cavanaugh still voiced Dexter for the first few episodes of the third season. In addition, Allison Moore briefly returned as Dee Dee's voice before Cressida once again assumed the role. Directors and writers on the series included Genndy Tartakovsky, Craig McCracken, Seth MacFarlane, Butch Hartman, Rob Renzetti, Paul Rudish, John McIntyre, and Chris Savino. Episodes Dexter's Laboratory broadcast 78 half-hour episodes over 4 seasons during its 7-year run. Two pilot shorts were produced for World Premiere Toons that aired in 1995 and 1996 and were subsequently fused into the series' first season. Fifty-two episodes were produced over the original run from 1996 to 1998, which was followed by the TV movie Ego Trip in 1999. An additional 26 episodes were produced and broadcast from 2001 to 2003. The short "Chicken Scratch" debuted theatrically with The Powerpuff Girls Movie in 2002 and was later broadcast as a segment in the series' fourth and final season. Broadcast history On November 16, 2001, Cartoon Network aired the 12-hour "Dexter Goes Global" marathon in 96 countries and 12 languages. The marathon featured fan-selected episodes of Dexter's Laboratory and culminated with the premiere of the first two episodes of season 3. On January 16, 2006, the series began airing in reruns on Cartoon Network's sister channel Boomerang; the occasion was marked by a 12-hour Martin Luther King, Jr. Day marathon. On March 30, 2012, the series returned to Cartoon Network in the United States in reruns on the revived block, Cartoon Planet. The Canadian version of Cartoon Network airs reruns as well, with the series being featured on the channel's launch on July 4, 2012. The launch was commemorated by parent network Teletoon, which aired Cartoon Network-related programming blocks and promotions in the weeks leading up to the event, including episodes of Dexter's Laboratory. Controversial episodes "Dial M for Monkey: Barbequor" The segment "Dial M for Monkey: Barbequor", aired during the first season, but was removed from air by Cartoon Network after its first broadcast in the United States. The short featured a character named the Silver Spooner (a parody of the Silver Surfer), which was perceived by Cartoon Network as a stereotype of gay men. "Rude Removal" During the initial run of ''Dexter's Lab, a segment titled "Rude Removal" was produced. The short involves Dexter creating a "rude removal system" to diminish Dee Dee's rudeness; however, it instead creates highly rude clones of both siblings. The episode was only shown during certain animation festivals and was never aired on Cartoon Network due to the characters swearing, even though the swear words were censored. Tartakovsky commented that "standards didn't like it." Linda Simensky, then-vice president of original programming for Cartoon Network, said "I still think it's very funny. It probably would air better late at night." Fred Seibert, president of Hanna-Barbera Cartoons from 1992 to 1996, has attested to the existence of the short. In October 2012, Genndy Tartakovsky was asked about the episode during an AMA on Reddit, and he replied "Next time I do a public appearance I'll bring it with me!". Adult Swim later asked fans on Twitter if there was still any interest in the episode, and the response was "overwhelming". The episode was finally uploaded on YouTube and AdultSwim.com on January 22, 2013, although it was removed after a few days. Reception Since its debut, Dexter's Laboratory has been one of Cartoon Network's most successful original series, being the network's highest-rated original series in both 1996 and 1997. Internationally, the series garnered a special mention for best script at the 1997 Cartoons on the Bay animation festival in Italy. By 1998, the character Dexter was popular enough to be featured for the first time alongside many other iconic characters in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, including the movie piglet Babe whom Christine Cavanaugh also voiced. The show was also part of the reason for Cartoon Network's 20% ratings surge over the summer of 1999. The series' July 7, 2000, telecast was the network's highest-rated original telecast of all time among households (3.1), kids 2–11 (7.8), and kids 6–11 (8.4), with a delivery of almost 2 million homes. On July 31, 2001, it scored the highest household rating (2.9) and delivery (2,166,000 homes) of any Cartoon Network telecast for that year. Dexter's Laboratory was also one of the network's highest-rated original series of 2002. One of Cartoon Network president Betty Cohen's favorite animated shows was Dexter's Laboratory. Rapper Coolio has also said that he is a fan of the show and was happy to do a song for the show's soundtrack at Cartoon Network's request, stating, "I watch a lot of cartoons because I have kids. I actually watch more cartoons than movies." In a 2012 top 10 list by Entertainment Weekly, Dexter's Laboratory was ranked as the fourth best Cartoon Network show. In 2009 Dexter's Laboratory was named the 72nd best animated series by IGN, with editors remarking, "While aimed at and immediately accessible to children, Dexter's Laboratory was part of a new generation of animated series that played on two levels, simultaneously fun for both kids and adults." Awards and nominations Merchandise Comics DC Comics released a 34-issue comic book volume based on the series from 1999 to 2003. In February 2013, IDW Publishing announced a partnership with Cartoon Network to produce comics based on its properties. Dexter's Laboratory was one of the titles announced to be published. VHS and DVD Warner Brothers stated in a 2006 interview that they were "...in conversations with Cartoon Network" for DVD collections of various cartoons, among which was ''Dexter's Laboratory. The complete first season and the first half of the second season were released in Region 4 in 2008. A Region 1 release of the first season was released by Warner Home Video on October 12, 2010. The release was the third in an official release of several Cartoon Cartoons on DVD, under the "Cartoon Network Hall of Fame" name. As with recent TV broadcasts, the banned segment, "Dial M for Monkey: Barbequor", has been replaced with "Dexter's Lab: A Story", an episode from season two. The complete series with the exception of the Ego Trip TV movie and the unaired "Rude Removal" segment became available on iTunes in 2010. Music releases The series has spawned two music albums, Dexter's Laboratory: The Musical Time Machine and Dexter's Laboratory: The Hip-Hop Experiment, three hip hop music videos, and a fourth music video by the band They Might Be Giants for their song "Dee Dee and Dexter", which features Japanese-style animation. Three Dexter's Laboratory tracks were also featured on the Cartoon Network compilation album Cartoon Medley. Toys and promotions In 1997 and 1999, respectively, Wendy's and Subway promoted Dexter's Laboratory with collectible toys in their kids' meals. The Subway promotion lasted from August 23 to October 3 and included "Dexter's Super Computer Giveaway", in which a computer and a set of Dexter's Laboratory DVDs were given out to lucky winners. Discovery Zone sponsored Cartoon Network's eight-week-long "Dexter's Duplication Summer" in 1998 to promote the show's new schedule. Toy company Trendmasters released a series of Dexter's Lab figures and playsets in 2001. A set of six kids' meal toys was available as part of a May 2001 Dairy Queen promotion. In May 2001, Cartoon Network and Perfetti Van Melle launched the "Out of Control" promotion, which included on-air marketing and a sweepstakes to win an "Air Dextron" entertainment center. The following April, a similar promotion featured Dexter's Laboratory-themed AirHeads packs and an online sweepstakes. Subway promoted the series a second time from April 1 to May 15, 2002, with four kids' meal toys. In 2003 Burger King sponsored Dexter's Laboratory toys with kids' meals as part of a larger promotion featuring online games, Cartoon Orbit codes, and new episodes of the series. Video games Six video games based on the series have been released: Dexter's Laboratory: Robot Rampage for the Nintendo Game Boy Color, Dexter's Laboratory: Chess Challenge for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance, Dexter's Laboratory: Deesaster Strikes!, also for the Game Boy Advance, Dexter's Laboratory: Mandark's Lab? for the Sony PlayStation, Dexter's Laboratory: Science Ain't Fair for PC, and Dexter's Laboratory: Security Alert! for mobile phones. Dexter, Mandark, Dee Dee, Dexter's computer, and Major Glory, along with many items, areas, and inventions from the show were featured in the MMORPG FusionFall. Various characters from the series were also featured in Cartoon Network Racing and Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion. See also * List of fictional scientists and engineers References Bibliography * External links * * * [http://web.archive.org/web/19991012022727/cartoonnetwork.com/doc/dexter/index.html Dexter's Laboratory] at Cartoon Network's Department of Cartoons (archive) * * * * [http://www.toonopedia.com/dexter.htm Dexter's Laboratory] at Don Markstein's Toonopedia * Category:1990s American animated television series Category:1996 American television series debuts Category:2000s American animated television series Category:2003 American television series endings Category:American children's comedy series Category:American science fiction television series Category:Animated sitcoms Category:Cartoon Network programs Category:Comic science fiction Category:DC Comics titles Category:English-language television programming Category:Hanna-Barbera series and characters Category:Cartoon Network Studios series and characters Category:Television shows set in California Category:Television spin-offs Category:Television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky